1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in oil and/or gas well production equipment, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to servicing equipment for facilitating the manipulation of electrical cables, and the like, at an oil or gas well drilling or well bore production site.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The usual oil and/or gas well bore of today normally extends into the earth through a great distance, and the production of well fluid is usually accomplished by the use of down hole pumps, and the like, which elevate the well fluids to the surface of the ground for recovery. Electrical cables are widely used for supplying the power for the down hole equipment, and since the depth of the well is frequently great, it will be apparent that the length of the electrical cables is also sufficiently great as to be difficult to handle. During the installation of the down hole pump, or any other down hole equipment utilizing electrical power, the cables are usually fed downwardly through the well bore by strapping or tying of the cable to the well tubing. When the pump or other equipment is withdrawn from the well bore for any reason, such as for servicing, or the like, it is common practice to pull the well tubing and pump from the bore hole by apparatus known as a workover rig. The cable, of course, is normally withdrawn or pulled simultaneously with the well tubing and pump and is cut free and rolled onto a cable reel. Commonly, the cable reels are turned manually, and the operation requires the use of several men. This is not only a difficult maneuver, but also is dangerous in that, if the workover rig accidentally drops the tubing string during the pulling operation the cable is drawn quickly down the well bore simultaneously with the tubing, causing the cable reel to rapidly turn in a "reeling out" direction. This is extremely hazardous to the personnel handling the cable "reeling in" operation as well as anyone present at the site of the well head.
In some instances, trailers or trucks carrying the cable reels may be utilized at the well head, some of the reels being powered and others un-powered. This equipment has certain disadvantages in that they normally require more than one man for the operation thereof, and the same disadvantage of any dropping of the well tubing exists as hereinbefore set forth.
There have been attempts to solve these problems, as set forth in the Petersen et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,478, issued Nov. 1, 1960, and entitled "Reel Carrier with Loading and Unloading Mechanism Therefor;" Hall U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,118, issued June 13, 1967, and entitled "Cable Reel Drive Mechanism;" Decker, Sr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,331, issued Sept. 6, 1977, and entitled "Wire Roller;" Small U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,518, issued Jan. 26, 1978, and entitled "Reel Lifting Apparatus;" Gaughn et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,663, issued May 27, 1980, and entitled "Apparatus for Lifting a Reel;" Woodruff U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,967, issued Oct. 21, 1980, and entitled "Cable Reel Handling Apparatus for a Vehicle." Some of these devices have many disadvantages and weaknesses in that the reels are loaded and unloaded by an overhead hoist or crane and cannot be changed in the field. Other models are "self-loading" which requires that the reels must be loaded on concrete, or the like, as the lifting arms must fit closely around the reel. This is extremely difficult to accomplish in the field. Still others do not have a trasverse mechanism for powered layer winding of the cable onto the reel. In fact, one presently available unit in the field or industry does include a traverse that does not work satisfactorily and still requires a man to manually guide the cable onto the reel. This is a very dangerous operation. As hereinbefore set forth, the presently available equipment still normally requires at least one man working in a hazardous situation.